chAPTeR seven • InTeResT GRouPs AnD PolITIcAl PARTIes 165
Third Party
A political party other than
the two major political
parties (Republican and
Democratic).ticket, such as the Conservative Party of
New York, must choose to be counted
with one of the major parties to obtain
a committee assignment. The Federal
Election Commission (FEC) rules for
campaign financing also place restric-
tions on minor-party candidates. Such
candidates are not eligible for federal
matching funds in either the primary
or the general election. In the 1980
elections, John Anderson, running for
president as an independent, sued the
FEC for campaign funds. The commis-
sion finally agreed to repay part of his
campaign costs after the election in
proportion to the votes he received.
Giving funds to a candidate when the
campaign is over is, of course, much less
helpful than providing funds while the
campaign is still under way.The Role of minor
Parties in u.s. Politics
For the reasons just discussed, minor
parties have a difficult, if not impos-
sible, time competing within the American two-party political system. Still, minor parties
have played an important role in our political life. Parties other than the Republicans or
Democrats are usually called third parties. (Technically, of course, there could be fourth,
fifth, or sixth parties as well, but we use the term third party because it has endured.) Third
parties can come into existence in a number of ways. They may be founded from scratch
by individuals or groups who are committed to a particular interest, issue, or ideology.
They can split off from one of the major parties when a group becomes dissatisfied with
the major party’s policies. Finally, they can be organized around a particular charismatic
leader and serve as that person’s vehicle for contesting elections.
Frequently, third parties have acted as barometers of change in the political mood,
forcing the major parties to recognize new issues or trends in the thinking of Americans.
Political scientists also believe that third parties have acted as safety valves for dissident
groups, preventing major confrontations and political unrest.Ideological Third Parties. The longest-lived third parties have been those with strong
ideological foundations that are typically at odds with the majority mind-set. Ideology has
at least two functions in such parties. First, the members of the party regard themselves
as outsiders and look to one another for support—ideology provides great psychological
cohesiveness. Second, because the rewards of ideological commitment are partly psycho-
logical, these parties do not think in terms of immediate electoral success. A poor showing
at the polls therefore does not dissuade either the leadership or the grassroots partici-
pants from continuing their quest for change in American government (and, ultimately,
American society).Gary Johnson, a former Republican governor of New Mexico, ran as
the Libertarian Party presidential candidate in 2012. How much support do minor
parties usually receive? (Scott Olson/Getty Images)Copyright 2014 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
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